NFL legend Joe Montana talks Super Bowl victories, collecting and his record-setting memorabilia

Whether it’s Super Bowl rings, career touchdown passes, late-game comebacks or some other metric, names at the heart of the “best quarterback in NFL history” discussion often include Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Joe Montana.

Whatever field general you pick in the debate, one fact is a lock: Montana is the king when it comes to football memorabilia.

A San Francisco 49ers jersey that Montana wore in two Super Bowl victories sold for a $1.2 million in March, a record for a game-worn football jersey.

A game-worn jersey that Joe Montana wore in Super Bowl XIX in 1985 and Super Bowl XXIII in 1989 sold for $1.2 million, a record for a game-worn football jersey. Goldin Co.

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Montana first wore the #16 jersey in the 1985 Super Bowl XIX victory over the Dolphins, and again a few years later in the 1989 Super Bowl XXIII over Cincinnati. Another Montana jersey from Super Bowl XXIV in 1990 sold for $720,000 as items from the Joe Montana Collection sold for more than $3.7 million at Goldin Co.

In Super Bowl XXIII, Montana, known as “The Comeback Kid” for his last-minute heorics, engineered a championship-winning, 92-yard march known simply as “The Drive.”

Joe Montana led the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl victories. Getty Images

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At the three-day 2023 Fall Chantilly (Va.) sports memorabilia show, one of the most popular autograph guests was Joseph Clifford Montana Jr.

After meeting many collectors and signing numerous autographs, Montana chatted briefly with SCD about his career and collecting.

Were you a card collector as a kid?

Everybody had baseball cards, nothing like the industry is today, but it was more for flipping cards. I don’t know if you remember anything about flipping, tossing them to try and win back more cards, but it wasn’t as much for me about collecting.

Joe Montana signs a football for Darwin and Angela Castillo at the Chantilly Show. Doug Koztoski

What items have you hung onto from your career at Notre Dame and the NFL?

Actually I auctioned off just about everything in the last couple of years. I kept my four Super Bowl rings and one or two little things, but other than that, just putting the money from the auctions into supporting our foundation and the rest to help kids. We deal a lot with children’s charities around the [San Francisco] Bay area.

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Other than the Super Bowl jersey you wore twice what were some of the biggest items you auctioned off that generated some significant bids?

MVP trophies, just about everything.

Which of your four Super Bowl victories was your favorite?

They all are, they’re all different. No favorite, really.

Over the course of your career you had a lot of nicknames — “Joe Cool,” “Big Sky,” “The Comeback Kid,” “Golden Joe,” and another nickname of sorts, “David W. Gibson.” What’s the story behind that name?

(He laughs) Yeah, somebody wrote into the newspaper and said I didn’t need a nickname, I needed a real name, so they sent me a plaque for my locker that said “David W. Gibson,” so I left that in my locker.

What do you think of the current state of the sports collectibles hobby?

Oh, it’s crazy. When you start looking around at the things that are being auctioned off and purchased, it’s amazing, just like the game itself, and how far it has come. It’s fun to see, it’s fun to watch and I’m happy to be a part of it.

COLLECTING MONTANA

Northern Virginia residents Brian Davis and son Tyler met Montana at the Chantilly Show, located about a half-hour outside of Washington, D.C.

“He is one of my all-time favorites,” said Tyler, who was adorned in various 49ers attire.

His dad was thrilled with meeting the Hall of Fame QB.

“That was amazing,” Brian said. “That was one of the best experiences of my life, but don’t tell my wife [he laughs].”

The 49ers helmet Montana signed for the Davis duo will fit in well with their other memorabilia items of the quarterback.

“We have a jersey, some of his cards, a couple of plaques, some pictures of him,” Brian said. “As far as signatures go, this is the second thing [the helmet] I had signed by him; last year when I was here I had an actual Joe Montana jersey signed.”

Darwin and Angela Castillo wore their 49ers sweatshirts for the event and added a Montana autograph to their football that also includes a signature of Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice and a nod to historic Super Bowl XXIII.

Darwin and Angela Castillo show off the football that Joe Montana signed at the 2023 fall Chantilly Show. Doug Koztoski

“It was thrilling meeting your hero,” Darwin Castillo said.

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The couple also had their pictures taken with Montana in the photo booth. They collect photos as well as autographs.

“We have quite the collection of photographs [with pro athletes],” Angela said. “I also like bobbleheads. The football is new to our collection and we are excited to start adding more.”